Friday, August 10, 2007

The Spanish Journal newspaper in Milwaukee is helping correct an erroneous story promoted recently by leading right-wing talk show hosts and some blogger devotees that suggested a Milwaukee County Board supervisor provided sanctuary to a young shooting suspect.

It takes relentless community surveillance and fact-checking to counteract the misinformation often spread by the rightist talkers.

Good for the Spanish Journal in helping set the record straight, and to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

But will the talkers apologize, or just move on to the next subject to be carelessly demagogued?

6 comments:

Money
said...

Hey, are not Citizens for Responsible Government folks also from the El Conquistador community newspaper and The Hispanic Chamber Of Commerce. Therefore, the articles wrote about folks as well as folks placing ad’s in the community newspaper and the folks running the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are supporters of the right-wingers? Are these folks also tied into the right-winger talk shows hosts? Hmmmm, this is real fishy.

I applaud the Spanish Journal for correcting the story put out by the leading right- wing talk show hosts, The El Conquistador community newspaper and blogger devotees. It is unjust, unfair and disgusting that those individuals/institutions that partake in falsification of information are polluting our communities with that untrue and misguiding garbage. We as a community must always hold those individuals/institutions accountable and never give up the good fight. Seeing that The Spanish Journal keeps the community honestly informed about “What’s really going on”, I am going to be sure I read it every week as well as checking it’s web-site.

I applaud the Spanish Journal for correcting the story put out by the leading right- wing talk show hosts, The El Conquistador community newspaper and blogger devotees. It is unjust, unfair and disgusting that those individuals/institutions that partake in falsification of information are polluting our communities with that untrue and misguiding garbage. We as a community must always hold those individuals/institutions accountable and never give up the good fight. Seeing that The Spanish Journal keeps the community honestly informed about “What’s really going on”, I am going to be sure I read it every week as well as checking it’s web-site.

Milwaukee- A suspected gang related shooting in front of 12th District Supervisor Peggy West residence at the 1100 block of W. Scott St. on August 1, took an unexpected twist during a juvenile case against the 14-year-old shooter. It seems the shooter who had been dating West’s daughter for about a year was portrayed as the actual victim in this case instead of the 13-year-old boy he shot and paralyzed for life. On Wednesday, the shooter was sentenced to a maximum of two years at Ethan Allen School in the Town of Delafield. Children’s Court Judge Thomas Cooper who heard the case address the shooter and said, “I suspect you never fired a gun before. You were probably shocked at the noise the gun made." The judge’s comments seemed outraged and insane in this particular case.During court, the shooter’s defense attorney said the shooter panicked and had decided to carried a gun that night because of fear of gang members. But, Steve Licata, Assistant Milwaukee County District Attorney said, the shooter’s version was “absolute baloney...Why did he have a gun in the first place?"Police said, the gun used in the shooting has not been recovered yet. Where did the shooter dump the gun and will he now recover the gun when he gets out? Questions raised by residents in the south side.In a statement, Licata says, “the important point and a legitimate issue for public scrutiny and criticism is why our current juvenile law allows for waiver (or use of Serious Juvenile Offender [SJO] disposition) of a 14-year-old who puts his finger in his pocket pretending to have a weapon and takes your wallet or bicycle but does not allow for waiver (or use of SJO disposition) for a 14-year- old juvenile who recklessly shoots someone and paralyzes them as occurred in this case. I consider that an oddity and a flaw in the law that the legislature should remedy and I have argued that for years and I made comments to that effect in this case also.”Licata explained, the shooter did not shoot at these kids as they were confronting him outside of Supervisor West's home. Instead, the shooter ran off West's porch and out into the street where he fired 3 to 5 shots down the street after our victims as they were riding away on a bike. The shooting was not from close range and the shooter claim that he felt threatened and fired to "scare" the kids on the bike led me to conclude that we could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt the specific intent to kill that would have been necessary for me to charge Attempt First Degree Intentional Homicide. The evidence appeared to support a charge of First Degree Reckless Injury and I charged the case accordingly.Had our victim died, I would have charged First Degree Reckless Homicide, added Licata.In this particular case, Assistant District Attorney Licata believed that there was no evidence whatsoever that the shooter belonged to any gang, let alone that this shooting was committed "at the request of or for the benefit of a gang". Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm also said, “I consider Steve to be, quite simply, one of the finest prosecutors in the State of Wisconsin, and trust his skills and judgment implicitly.”No doubt state juvenile laws are flawed, and his decision not to wave the shooter left him no choice without proof of him belonging to a gang, according to Licata. But, gang members don’t really carry membership cards that they are certified and have gang affiliation. Most of them when caught committing or accused of a crime, usually never admit to belonging to a local gang. The flaws in the juvenile law do send a strong and wrong message to children that it’s ok for them to commit a crime, which results in great bodily harm with a gun. The time they can expect in detention as a consequence is only a maximum of two years at a school because the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office can not prosecute them as adults because of current laws that prevent them from doing so, regardless the irreversible bodily harm to their victims and their suffering. Common sense dictates it’s time for state legislators to adopt laws, which make it easier to wave children into adult courts who commit these types of crimes, and children who commit gang related crimes and for prosecutors to enforce the laws to fit gang related crimes committed by children. Was justice served in this particular case?

Milwaukee- A 13-year-old boy reported shot in the back on August 1, outside a County Supervisor’s residence remains in the hospital and has been diagnosed to be paralyzed, according to his mother Melissa Stewart. A relative of the boy had estimated earlier that his age was 11-years-old, but police confirmed he was 13. The 13-year-old boy was shot by a 14-year-old boy at the 1100 block of W. Scott St. The shooting occurred in front of 12th District County Supervisor Peggy West’s residence at about 10:10 p.m., according to police. West during a radio interview with Charlie Sykes, 620 WTMJ News Radio on Tuesday said, the shooting occurred a block away from her residence. However, police confirmed it happened in front of her house. West also admitted her daughter witnessed the shooting. Supervisor West said, she never called 911 after the shooting. She told Sykes that another daughter who was about a block away was able to flag down a passing police squad car after one of the boys yelled for help that his friend had been shot. When asked twice by Sykes, if she had talked to police, West denied she had talked to them. Afterwards, she finally admitted talking to police. Police confirmed that they searched her house because it was considered a crime scene at the time. West said, she was the one who provided information to police, which led to the arrest of the 14-year-old shooter. West tried to describe the shooter to Sykes as a good kid who “has no gang affiliation...and he is not in any way or form of a person you would imagine to carry a gun,” but Sykes replied “the gang banger with the gun...he just happens to have a gun and shoots kids.” Sykes asked West, if her daughter’s friend was carrying a gun?, West replied, “he was.” Police on Tuesday said, the gun used in the shooting has not been recovered yet. Where did the shooter dump the gun?West denied previous allegations by nearby witnesses that the shooter had ran into her house after the shooting. But on Thursday the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, “her daughter came in and ran out of the back door, West said. She followed her daughter outside, where another daughter told her someone had just shot a boy.” West confirmed the 14-year-old boy was visiting her daughter and they were both sitting on her front porch while she sat on a couch inside her residence watching a movie when she heard a series of pops. The Journal Sentinel also confirmed West’s daughter was dating the shooter and that West described the shooter as a tae kwon do champion who had been named most improved eighth-grader. Then, why did the shooter need to carry a gun when he is a karate champion? Tae kwon do is a modern martial art from Korea that is characterized by its fast, high and spinning kicks. Police reported, the young boys were riding in a bike on W. Scott St. when they rode pass the 14-year-old at West’s residence. The older boy saw the boys riding and began to flash rival gang signs between each other. However, West says that her daughter told her that her friend never exchanged gang signs with the boys. West later admitted to Sykes, she did not see the actual shooting incident when the 14-year-old boy took out a gun and fired several shots at the two boys riding away from the scene. Stewart’s son was riding in the bicycle pegs behind a 13-year-old friend at the time of the shooting when he was shot in the back and the bullet severed his spinal cord, according to police.West reported to police since the shooting incident, that her family had received threats in retaliation and has noticed damage to her security fence. On Tuesday Stewart said, her son just spends most of the time sleeping, and now that he is paralyzed he won’t be able to ride his bicycle anymore or to do the things that a child likes to do at his age. She wants the 14-year-old shooter to pay for his crime. But, Steve Lecate, Assistant Milwaukee County District Attorney says, the 14-year-old is expected to be charged as a juvenile and will face two years incarceration, if convicted as a delinquent. The current state law prevents prosecutors from waving him to adult court to face a stiffer sentence. However, State Statue 938.18 (1) (b) allows a 14-year-old to be waved as an adult, (b) The juvenile is alleged to have committed a violation on or after the juvenile's 14th birthday at the request of or for the benefit of a criminal gang, as defined in s. 939.22 (9) and (10), that would constitute a felony under chs. 939 to 948 or 961 if committed by an adult.In this particular case, state law sends a strong message to children in gangs that it’s ok for them to commit a crime, which results in great bodily harm with a gun. The time they can expect in detention as a consequence is only two years because the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office is not willing to wave the 14-year-old as an adult, regardless the irreversible bodily harm to the victim and his suffering. Common sense dictates it’s time for state legislators to adopt laws, which make it easier to wave children into adult courts who commit gang related crimes and for prosecutors to enforce the laws to fit gang related crimes committed by children.Editors note: Supervisor Peggy West was given every opportunity to discuss the shooting incident and her daughter's relationship with the 14-year-old boy for about a year. West would only confirm the shooting incident at her house and the boy was visiting her daughter at the time. Although, she has failed to contact El Conquistador Newspaper to clarify her involvement in the incident, she has in fact provided information to other sources except El Conquistador Newspaper. It is the outmost importance that El Conquistador Newspaper continues to report and update the developments of this unfortunate shooting incident involving children despite refusal by Supervisor West to keep El Conquistador Newspaper updated for the best interest of our community.

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James Rowen's Bio

James Rowen, a writer and consultant, has worked for newspapers, and as the senior Mayoral staffer, in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. This blog began on 2/2/ 2007. Posts run also at various news sites, including The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Purple Wisconsin."